PRIMARY DOCUMENTS: Classroom Lessons

Teaching with primary sources, the real stuff of history, can make the past come alive for students. Examining documents, artworks, drawings, photographs and other primary sources puts young learners on the path that professional historians tread. For those who teach AP History courses, these lessons are also fine practice for the Document Based Question. While directed at middle and high school students, some lessons may be adaptable to upper elementary classrooms. You will also find a number of primary document activities in » LESSONS: Grades 9-12